Sunday, November 1, 2015

Trick or Treat??! and the clock keeps on ticking. Soon it will be Thanksgiving and then Christmas (the best time of the year) and then we start the cycle all over again with a new year.

Normally, Fran's classes are on the last Saturday of each month, but with Halloween the class gets pushed to the first Saturday in November (7th) 1:30 - 4:30 pm. The theme of the class is Christmas Gift Cards and Tags. You will be making 2 gift cards and 5 gift tags. Below, you will see a sneak preview of the gift tags.

If you are interested in the class please contact me or Fran to sign up. The cost is $23.00. This will be the last class of the year. Fran will be taking the holiday season off, as usual, to enjoy family time and "gear up" for next year.

The Laser Den has been extremely busy. We've become the go-to place to have your hydro flasks engraved. There are the individual flasks, but there are the orders for 300, 58, 176, and 375 also. Sandwiched in between those orders are electrical labels for solar companies, wood plates, Koa boxes, stencils, and custom signs.

One thing I've discovered is Instagram. If you have the time you can visit photos of my work at hawaiiengraving. Since the website is on hold I found instagram as another vehicle to get the word out. I have a total of 30 followers (modest by any count) but with time I think it will grow.

The following are a few samples of what we've recently done:

To get the sharpest engraving we often times re-draw the image in the language of the laser.

Naliko's Hydro Flask - Go Ducks

This is the drawing of the elephant before engraving on a Hydro Flask

Using our new logo I engraved the image and it now adorns my I-pad cover. I cut out the sun/moon and inlaid a piece of red acrylic

Recently, I changed the company logo to the engraved Koolau's. What you see above is the new business card.

Very beautiful antique Koa frame engraved with the family Mon.

Just a few flasks contained in the 15 cases that were dropped off at the Laser den.

That's all for now. I wish you the best of the coming days. Enjoy your friends and family - they are the true treasures we have in our lives.

Sunday, September 13, 2015

Do you enjoy doing things that you had never done before. I find that I enjoy challenges. Perhaps that was one of the reasons I closed my construction company of 23 years and moved to Hawaii. A new challenge awaited me. I've always said "never go through life with blinders on - you might just miss an opportunity that was worth exploring". So when we closed the craft store, it wasn't a negative thing because there was the opportunity of expanding out laser engraving operation. Each day now is new and exciting because of the people I'm able to help.

One of the best parts of my job is that in many projects I get to work some pretty fantastic people. The Laser Den isn't large enough to stock a variety of product. When a request comes in for an engraved item made of wood, I always call Matt. He is a fantastic woodworker and every time he is involved I know the client will be pleased. You will see a sample of his work below.

We do a lot of work for the Four Seasons Resorts on several of the islands. Wet floor signs, Privacy Please door signs, Labels for the amenity bottles, Signage for the restaurant buffet line, and name tags are some of things they have requested. I enjoy the association because of the standards they have established for themselves.

Almost every day someone comes into the Laser Den with a Hydro Flask to engrave. Some use our designs that we developed for our line of stencils and stamps. Then there are those that want something more specific for the person they are gifting the flask to. You can see more samples below.

Rico came in with a request for the Senior Chief Petty Officer emblem on his flask. Anything I do for the our military is an honor. This Marine has a high degree of respectfor those that serve our country

The "kids" have been taking turns visiting this summer and I had fun helping themin the design of their flasks

When the kids are here I show them how the laser machine works and then I let them engrave their own flask. For the grandchildren, I do the set up and they get to press the GO button. There is a delight in their eyes as the laser works it's magic.

Anybody have a child in the Cub Scouts? My Stepson had me engrave this and was going to surprise his stepson upon his return to California.

A Butterfly on a pink flask seems very appropriate.

Sometimes it's hard to capture the total engraving on the flask becausethe image wraps around the flask. Here there are 3 flowers that makes a very beautiful presentation - the photo just doesn't capture it all.

Plumerias - the favorite flower of one grand daughter

Well, your probably getting tired of seeing Hydro Flasks. If your looking for them check out the supply that Steven has over at the Kailua General Store. He's another of my go-to guys.

One family went home with baggage tags made out of black acrylic. Go Ducks was on the reverse side.

That's all for now. If you made it this far, be sure and consider taking Fran's class on the 26th of September. See my previous Blog for details or give me a call.

Friday, September 11, 2015

Anyone feel warm? We're promised less humidity starting on Sunday and I know that will be a relief for Priscilla. This Blog contains some exciting news and those of you that are going to be taking Fran's class on Saturday (September 26th) will be pleased also. Our classes are held in what we call the patio and it can get pretty warm, even with the overhead fans circulating the air. Priscilla and I have decided to install air conditioning in the patio. So, now those taking the class should feel a lot more comfortable. Plus, Priscilla does all of her crafting and computer generated work in the patio. She will be one happy lady. And as everyone knows...Happy wife.....Happy life.

Priscilla took Fran's card making class last month and I wanted to share what she made. You can review the cards shown below. I'm not sure what Fran has planned for this months class, but she will be stopping by to pick out some paper and I'll try and get some details for you.

I think she did a great job - Fran just stopped by and she thinks the cards are "just gorgeous" "just gorgeous". I told her that gorgeous is not a word in my vocabulary, so she said to quote her. The input on Fran's class is as follows: The class is called Card "Buffet". If you take the class you will have the possibility of making up to 10 cards - but you have to finish as many as you can within the time frame of the class. The cost is $23.00 and there is a limit of 10 students. There is still room, but some people have already called to sign up. When students learn about the air conditioning - that will be an added incentive. The tools that you will need to bring is your basic tool kit plus a corner rounder, black ink pad, and a piercing tool. Fran will call me with any updates.

That's all for now. Since there is lot of information on what's happening in the Laser den, I'll probably do another entry in the Blog tomorrow.

Have a great weekend,

Bill

A Place in Time
1079 Liku Street
Kailua, HI 96734
1-808-261-2882
wotsearch@hotmail.com
ptcraftshop.com

Saturday, August 22, 2015

Before I get started on my engraving projects I wanted to show you Art's flask that he engraved.

Nicely scaled to the size of the flask.

Lately, we have taking various companies logo and engraving it on flasks for them.

Had the time the other day, and per Priscilla's recommendation I designed a new sign for the Laser Den. Hopefully people will come on in without feeling they have to knock on the door. Oh - it's a concrete floor so you don't have to take your shoes off.

It's kind of neat because one sign just layers over the other.

Lastly, the laser can do so many things. From signs to custom wood boxes. Below, we made this box
that has a removable top. Fun to create the finger joints.

What can be better than a Saturday morning and the trade winds have returned with a bit of sunshine and puffy white clouds. No pressure today - a couple of Hydro Flasks to engrave and a little clean-up around the shop.

Art came by the other day and showed Priscilla and I his latest model car creation. For those of you that were not alive at the time, it's a 1923 Ford Model "T" Street Rod. The result is something really special. Art is never satisfied with just taking the pieces found in the box and assembling them. In this case he scratch made the velocity stacks and exhaust pipes from polished aluminum tubing. The exhaust headers were made from silver solder. The 427 cubic inch engine is plumbed and wired. The interior and roof is cloth covered. What always amazes me is the paint job Art does on his models. It is so smooth and polished - I don't see a flaw anywhere. Please see the photos below. Art typically enters his projects in the car show downtown and is always in the running for the People's Choice Awards. The next time your in my Laser den you can see his talent on display.

Yes, the top comes off.

It's amazing to see the detail and the creativity. And you would be surprised whatArt uses for the details on the car.

Stacks and pipes custom made.

Wouldn't you like to drive this down the street.

Art also took the time to engrave a Hydro Flask that he was going to give to his sister as a gift. He started with our 3 Hibiscus Stencil, modified it a bit, and let the laser do the rest. We have the image on file if you would like to use it. For some reason the program isn't allowing me to download the photo of the flask - so I'll do it on the next blog.

Have a great weekend and don't forget Fran's class next Saturday. You can see the photos on my previous blog.

Saturday, August 15, 2015

It's a beautiful Saturday morning. I'm getting an early start in the Laser den and I'm looking out the window at my little garden of foliage. It's a small garden and given the time I know that I could improve upon the design. But for now, I'm just appreciating the life the good Lord has given me.

Last night I received an e-mail from Fran regarding her class on August 29th. The class starts at 1:30 and will end around 4:30. This will be a card making class. Because of the requests, she will be repeating a class from earlier this year. Even if you already took the class, I believe their are a couple of new cards that are included. The class is limited to 6 people and it is already 1/3 full. The supplies you need to bring include:

The cost of the class is $23. You will be making 5 cards and in my opinion Fran has done an exceptional job in their design. My problem is would I really want to give them away? See the photos below:

I think this card is exceptional. It has a simple elegance that I really like.Embossed, colored, and the addition of the raffia is just that additional touch that sets this card apart.Can you imagine the card without the raffia?

The neat thing about this card is that you can play with the colors on the Humu andthe background lettering is so elegant.

It's nice to see stencils that Priscilla, Art, and I had a hand in designing still being used. Fun times at the craft store. Who would of known that years later I would be using those stencils in custom engraving Hydro Flasks. This past week we had a client call and was wondering if her business logo could be engraved on a flask. I had her e-mail me the image and we proceeded with the setup. The end result was a very pleased client. I thought it turned out great. I try to make the image fit the scale of the flask. So many places can do the engraving (maybe), but they don't take that extra step in designing it for the flask. I call it minimal engraving...looks ok, but it could be be so much more. See below and you can be the judge.

I think this would make great advertising for a person's company

You might recognize our pineapple stencil

That's all for now. Please give me a call or contact Fran if you want to sign up for her class. If you have any questions regarding engraving you can always contact me or leave a message at the Laser Den. I'll help you in any way that I can.

Monday, August 10, 2015

It's been a busy week, this first week in August. Is it really August? If I close my eyes and then open them I think it would be Christmas time. Anybody ready to think about that yet?

Well, I decided to take a break and make an entry into the Blog. Since finishing an order for 600+ electrical labels I'm ready for an hour off. When I finish this there are the ever present Hydro Flasks. Seems like we are doing about 10 a week now and that's just by word of mouth. That's one of the positive factors in living on an island.

My next project is engraving the Hokule'a logo on a hair-pic and bookmarks. I really like this job. It tests my creativity and I get to work with some really nice people. The project following that one may be Wet Floor signs for the Four Seasons Resort on Lana'i. How's that for a range in project diversity?

That's all for now. I wanted to keep this short and will close with a couple of photos. I know that Fran is working on her next class. As soon as I get the scoop on what she is planning I'll let you know.

Once in the system I can reuse the soccer ball and re-size it to fit the project.The Pineapple is our stencil from the craft store.

For this engraving I had to draw a soccer ball and a volley ball

Koa Hair-pic and Bookmark; you can't tell it from the photo, but the font (as small as it is) turned out especially nice.The font size is 4.5 - that's less than a 1/16th of an inch for a capital letter.

Enjoy the rest of the week and I hope to see you soon.

Bill

A Place in Time
1079 Liku Street
Kailua, HI 96734
1-808-261-2882
wotsearch@hotmail.com
ptcraftshop.com

Wednesday, July 22, 2015

Getting older is strange. I just had another birthday and certain things are becoming obvious to me. As you get older you get wiser - no, not in my case. I don't seem any smarter. You should look different - no, I still look in the mirror in the morning and it still cringes. You enjoy the small things in life - no, I still like the bigger slice of cake, 2 scoops of ice cream instead one, and bigger paychecks. Family means more to you - no, to say that would be admitting that they were of less importance at some point in time and that's just not true. The one thing that i find in getting older is that I'm less tolerant of stupidity and I'm more likely to speak my mind than just keeping quiet. And I don't mind admitting that I'm 39 years old.

Fran's class is this coming Saturday (July 25th 1:30-3:30 pm) and the cost is $23.00. She didn't say, but I believe there is still room to sign up. I have included a sneak peek at one of the cards you will be making. The supplies you will need to bring to class will be: Paper trimmer, scissors, adhesive of your choice (both tape and liquid), black liquid pearl (if you have) and a small dot template that A Place in Time is making for this class (not sure of the cost yet).

Fran's Card

We have been very busy in the Laser Den this July. Requests for name tags, electrical labels, dog tags, engraving glassware, etc. I think I'm having the most fun with Hydro Flasks and personalizing them for an individual or as gifts. Many people have used stickers, but they eventually wear or start to peal off. I included some photos of some recent work we've done.

The first two are flasks our grandchildren from Lanai wanted engraved. They've stayed with us several weeks this summer and it was extremely fun to have them around the house. The images we acquired by taking photos of their t-shirts, scanning it into Photoshop, editing out a lot of excess detail, and then engraving it on their flasks.

Makana's Flask

Makana gave this flask to her teacher in the Martial Arts Class she is taking

For Makamae's Flask we made a baggage tag that has gold leaf filling

Makamae's Flask

I thought you might like to see the set up we do prior to engraving the flask. In the photos below you will see the printed images attached to the flask prior to engraving. We do this so we can make sure the image is engraved in the proper position. The motorcycle is an image we drew for a client. The Honu Family, you might recognize as one of our stencil designs. I edited it so that it relates to the size of the client's family. All of this is "fun stuff" to do and more people are coming in to engrave flasks as gifts.

The last thing I will show you is 1 of 26 knives we engraved for a client. We had to be very precise in the placement of the name, There wasn't a lot of room to work with, but it turned out great.

That's all for now. I hope to see you at Fran's class and if I can help you with anything please let me know.

About Us

A Place In Time is a company that specializes in Laser Engraving. With a background in Architecture, we can offer a client a service that few other engraving companies can. We have been truly blessed with a client list that includes large corporations and the individual who wants a single item engraved. We work with people on the outer islands, on the mainland, and Canada. It is our goal to help each client with the best service found anywhere. No project is too small or too big.